Blu-ray snags Warner Bros exclusive

[FatStrat85]

Here is the requested source article regarding New Line's abandonment of HD-DVD.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/05/new-line-confirms-itll-follow-in-warners-blu-footsteps/

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

$1500? Wow, you're hardcore. Hey is that player BD-Live compatible or is it just Profile 1.1?

I would rather get the new Denon DVD-3800BD player for about $1,500.

 

[The Dukester]

Don't worry, soon Wal-Mart will be selling HD DVDs for $5 each and you can stock up.

If so, I will be there with bells on, an empty shopping cart to fill up and credit card in hand.

 

[Stefan]

I think it is time to invest in a Denon DVD-2500BTCI, I like the idea of a transport, I have a Denon AVR4308 that can decode the audio stream and direct the video to my display. My $200 XBox 360 HD DVD player will serve as HD DVD backup for those movies not out on Blu-Ray that I simply must have.

 

[patnshan]

I like HD DVD and think it was the right choice, but I submit that this is a huge blow. I still have a sweet upconverting DVD player, and 10+ HD DVD's to watch (including the best "Transformers"). I am out nothing really. I've spent $200 on more useless things. They both are beautiful, but the shady one seems to have one this time. Well, it's just business I guess.

I hate Sony and always will, so all you Blu Ray lovers, tell me which HD DVD player to keep an eye on? I am thinking Sharp or Panny?? As soon as one of them hits around $200, I am there (just like when I went Red)

Pat

 

[Hi Ho]

This is sad news to me as I own an HD-A2. Like patnshan, I have no love at all for Sony and that was just one of the reasons I wanted HD-DVD to succeed. It's not over yet but I'm afraid this is a major blow.

 

[D.R. Payne]

Your comments are interesting. Ten years ago, if people had told me that Sony and not Microsoft would be the Big Evil Corporation-to-avoid, I would not have believed it.

 

[GlocksRock]

I too got an HD-A2, but I don't feel that I'm out anything, as I sold my Oppo player, and used that to finance the HD-A2, and it only cost me $2 more, plus it does a better job of upconverting standard def dvd's, and I sitll get 5 free HD DVDs in the process. I also have a PS3, so I was good to go no matter which format one, although I'm glad it's blu ray that won.

 

[stratman]

It appears the HD-DVD camp may pull out of doing a press event at CES '08.
New Line Cinemas are bailing out of HD-DVD as well. Hello 'Lord of the Rings'.

Yup, they did. In order to "strategize" a new move after the debacle. NLC is also jumping ship. I told Evilkat that by this summer all CE prices will tumble, as we're headed for a moderate recession and historically CE takes a big hit during recessions, so BD players will be more affordable, pushing even harder on HD DVD.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I'm glad to see this thing is finally coming to an end!! Once blu-ray is established as "THE" format, then the real market competition can finally begin!! As of now, it was only a small niche competition between Toshiba -VS- Sony along with a small supporting cast of BD manufacturers.

We'll soon see dozens of spectators (manufacturers) leaving the sidelines and beginning to manufacture/sell bd-players which will drive prices even lower. We'll finally see a much broader selection of AAA movie releases in the new format.....etc, etc, etc... Many consumers who've been waiting on the sidelines to see which format will prevail will also finally make their move.

The backlash from the WB announcement will have an absurd effect on HD-DVD sales, and it won't be long before both Paramount and Universal switch to blu-ray. It will be interesting to follow the Nielson's sales reports in January/Feb. I expect the blu-ray:HD-Sales ratio will go from 65:35 to maybe 80:20 or 85:15 in rather short order.......effectively ending the format war.

Now BR can focus on making some real progress and bringing the new format from a small niche to the mainstream by competing for DVD market share. Granted....BR won't approach DVD sales anytime soon, but BD certainly will make significant gains in the coming year. Maybe even doubling/tripling their current market penetration?

 

[Seth=L]

Yup, they did. In order to "strategize" a new move after the debacle. NLC is also jumping ship. I told Evilkat that by this summer all CE prices will tumble, as we're headed for a moderate recession and historically CE takes a big hit during recessions, so BD players will be more affordable, pushing even harder on HD DVD.

That's because Newline is part of the Times Warner group. ( I confused Dreamworks with Newline earlier). Now LOTR will obviously be a Blu-ray exclusive for those interested in it.

 

[digital_low_thd]

Blu-Ray here we come

It sounds like enough battles are over for the Microsoft backed system to finally fall.

The boys over there at MicroSoft have had a bad run on things.

Vista is not a big win (people are "upgrading" to XP to avoid all the excess DRM.

The X-BOX is being beat out by the competition

And BluRay is winning, ensuring an increased difficulty in MicroSoft getting their grubby hands on more digital media content.

 

[Hi Ho]

It sounds like enough battles are over for the Microsoft backed system to finally fall.

The boys over there at MicroSoft have had a bad run on things.

Vista is not a big win (people are "upgrading" to XP to avoid all the excess DRM.

The X-BOX is being beat out by the competition

And BluRay is winning, ensuring an increased difficulty in MicroSoft getting their grubby hands on more digital media content.

The Xbox is still beating the PS3. The Wii beats both.

I have had zero issues with Vista. What excess DRM in Vista impeads operation for the user?

HD-DVD, while of course it has DRM, has a more consumer friendly implementation.

Do you really think that Sony has a better track record when it comes to DRM? Think rootkit.

 

[skads_187]

out of curiosity, does anyone have the latest sales on ps3 vs xbox360? I thought ps3 was out selling xbox from xmas until present (and maybe even before that).
this what I was able to find, not sure how good of info it is:
http://nexgenwars.com/gaming-news/sales-info/
as you'll see wii definetely beats both

and as far as Vista, I think what digital low thd meant was that its not winnning over the crowd, which I think he is right, its not. Especially on a business standpoint, many companies are avoiding vista because of the high memory demands it requires to run without being super slow.

 

[ivseenbetter]

As the support for HD DVD seems to be dwindling I just can't help but wonder how this could have happened? HD DVD was obviously the best format. Look at it this way, those that have a new HD DVD player continue to state that they are not out any money because they still have their current HD DVDs and an awesome upconverting player for the SD DVDs. Now, if Blueray would be dieing how many people would still be able to say their player was still a good investment? There would be no SD DVDs being played in that PS3. It just seems that we have created a situation where now we have a niche player where I will have to have a good upconverting SD DVD player for some movies and a BD player for an HD content. It's frustrating when we could have had an all-in-one solution that would have allowed for continued use of our current DVD collection. Buying new HD DVD movies would have looked great while our old DVD movies would have still been usable pieces of media. Seems like a debacle to me.

This is just an opinion though. I don't own HD DVD or Bluray. I just felt that HD DVD was the right choice. Now I will just wait for HD DL to come into it's own.

 

[D.R. Payne]

As the support for HD DVD seems to be dwindling I just can't help but wonder how this could have happened? HD DVD was obviously the best format. Look at it this way, those that have a new HD DVD player continue to state that they are not out any money because they still have their current HD DVDs and an awesome upconverting player for the SD DVDs. Now, if Blueray would be dieing how many people would still be able to say their player was still a good investment? There would be no SD DVDs being played in that PS3. It just seems that we have created a situation where now we have a niche player where I will have to have a good upconverting SD DVD player for some movies and a BD player for an HD content. It's frustrating when we could have had an all-in-one solution that would have allowed for continued use of our current DVD collection. Buying new HD DVD movies would have looked great while our old DVD movies would have still been usable pieces of media. Seems like a debacle to me.

This is just an opinion though. I don't own HD DVD or Bluray. I just felt that HD DVD was the right choice. Now I will just wait for HD DL to come into it's own.

Are you saying the PS3 does not play and upconvert SD-DVDs? It does...

 

[ivseenbetter]

So do a lot of the other Bluray players too. I don't even know where I was going with what I was saying. It seems I got lost in my Bluray bashing and lost my point completely!

 

[Hi Ho]

It does seem like the HD-DVD side put more emphasis on good DVD upscaling than many Blu-Ray players. Many cheaper Blu-Ray players such as the Sony BDP-S300 and the Panasonic BD30 do not have very good upscaling.

 

[skads_187]

well im getting a cheap panasonic upconverting dvd player for now, and play blu-rays on my ps3 and in the future, when prices go down and/if blu-ray becomes the norm, purchase a bd player with dvd upscale. A good one.

 

[Thunder18]

So do a lot of the other Bluray players too. I don't even know where I was going with what I was saying. It seems I got lost in my Bluray bashing and lost my point completely!

At least you're honest!